Have you noticed how in male-led films, a popular female actress is always cast beside the hero? Whether it be Kareena Kapoor in the Akshay Kumar starrer Gabbar Is Back or Anushka Sharma in the Salman Khan starrer Sultan. However, it isn’t really the other way round. In how many female-oriented films have we seen top male actors be cast opposite the female lead?
Taapsee Pannu recently shed light on this topic. In a recent interview, Taapsee spoke about how many male actors reject working in female-oriented films.
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She expressed how it’s almost as if male actors feel their image will be spoilt if they are a ‘secondary’ character in a female-oriented film. BollywoodLife quoted her saying:
“It has been one consistent problem while casting for a film in which I need an actor to play a part opposite me in a film which is a girl’s story. It is so bizarre that guys who are barely one film old have this mindset that it’s not right for them to do a part lesser than a girl in a film as it might just spoil their image. So, I’ve also had this major issue in casting male actors opposite me in most of the films I’ve done, which are female-driven or at least films that are from the female’s point of view.”
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She went on to add how it takes a “secure actor” to take up the job opposite a female lead in a female-oriented film.
“It takes a very secure actor to take up that job. So, whenever you see an actor who’s opposite a female in a female story, one thing is for sure that the actor is completely secure because the biggest of big stars don’t want to take up that role as they’re probably not confident enough to make sure that they’ll be evenly there.”
Giving the example of Mission Mangal, where a stellar female cast was in place opposite Akshay Kumar, she said that women don’t have the same problem as they are used to accepting lesser screen time than men.
“However, women don’t feel this in films where their part is lesser than that of a man. Even in a film like Mission Mangal, where there are five girls and Akshay Kumar on top of it. But I don’t think any of us had an issue over who’s screen space was more or less.”
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She further added how it is the patriarchal mindset of our society that finds its way swiftly into the film industry.
“Over the years, we women are so used to that minimum screen space that we don’t have that insecurity issue. But, strangely, men are not used to it. So, when today, there is a trend of stories about women being said, it is becoming very difficult to cast men opposite actresses. That’s a patriarchal mindset for years in the world for that matter, which is a part of every industry.”
Do you agree with what Taapsee Pannu has to say? Tell us!